MORNING ON CLEAR CREEK, 02908, 16x20 oil painting of river in winter

Another painting of Clear Creek as it runs through Golden, CO. In the winter, the scene is one of quiet solitude. In the summer, on the other hand, the river is alive with tubers, kayackers, and folks enjoying the rushing water.

The reference photo I shot for this scene was taken in the afternoon, so I had to "imagine" what the scene would be like at dawn. As you can see, I simplified and rearranged some of the elements in the photo to get a good composition. That is one advantage that artists have over photographers. Artists can IMPROVE on Mother Nature!

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Still Life STudies of My Stuff: Salt & Pepper

www.carolnelsonfineart.com

Still Life Studies of My Stuff: Salt & Pepper

I am having a lot of fun with these little paintings. It's so easy to find subject matter when you're painting your own stuff. I look at each painting as an exercise in composition, light, and color mixing. I have never painted on gessoed panels before, and it is very comfortable. If you look closely at these paintings you can see the brush marks from the underlayer of gesso used to prepare the panel. I COULD make those brushstrokes less obvious by using a softer brush, but I LIKE the texture it imparts to the painting surface.I was trying to come up with a title more original than Salt & Pepper because I think the shiny metal shaker tops remind me of helmets worn by knights in the ancient times. The glass is frosted, looking kind of satiny.....so, my title was Knights in White Satin, but my husband GROANED at that one. So, I went with the unimaginative title.....YOU can think of it as Knights in White Satin. Let me know what you think.
Posted by Carol Nelson on 2/22/2007 11:10:19 AM Permalink Make the first comment

Still Life Studies of My Stuff : Oil,Vinegar, & Tomatoes

http://www.carolnelsonfineart.com


Still Life Studies of My Stuff

I've been looking at websites of painters who paint a small work and complete it every day (or nearly every day). It's really interesting - see http://www.apaintingaday/. That's Duane Keiser's site, plus he has links to many other painters. Check out Karin Jurick's and Neil Hollingsworth's work too.
What they all have in common is painting in small sizes, like 6x6, or 5x7, and most of them are still lifes of objects found around the house.I was excited to try this because I havn't had much experience with still life subjects. I took a bunch of small items out in the garage (where it's dark) and photographed them with a single light on them to make the lighting dramatic. I guess you'd say it is a chiaroscuro approach. So today, voila, I completed TWO of them. Under Original Oils, see Cream & Sugar, and Oil, Vinegar & Tomatoes.

On another note, I admit I had to check the spelling of the word, voila. At first I typed in my Google toolbar the word "viola". Did you know there's a whole website about viola jokes? http://www.mit.edu/~jcb/jokes/viola.htmlMy favorite was: Q:Why do people tremble in fear when a man walks into a bank carrying a violin case? A: They think he's carrying a machine gun and might be about to use it. Q: Why do people tremble in fear when a man walks into a bank carying a viola case? A: They think he's carrying a viola and might be about to use it. SOLD